The State of Colorado has decided to fine Uber for misrepresenting facts about background checks and screening that should have weeded out convicted felons and other from being accepted as drivers.

Uber was fined $8.9 million on Monday this week by The Colorado Public Utilities Commission when it found that Uber had allowed 57 drivers with a felony conviction to drive in Colorado during the past eighteen months. The commission had begun an investigation into Uber's activates from the beginning of 2017 after the local Police had notified them of an Uber driver's assault of a passenger. After the commission had cross-checked the records they had from Uber with State criminal databases, they found that there were discrepancies in Uber's records, and found that there were more cases of misinformation. The commission's findings show that there were 12 drivers that had felony convictions, 17 with major moving vehicle violations, 63 drivers with driving license problems and 3 drivers with interlock licenses that come after drunken driving offenses.

Companies that employ drivers must pass mandatory driver background checks and disallow applicants with bad backgrounds to drive for them. The commission stated that their staff was able to find issues with drivers that Uber's checks failed to report. In a very bad case scenario, they stated that in other instances they could not even find proof that Uber even performed a background check.

Uber's spokesperson stated that they had "discovered a process error that was inconsistent with Colorado's ridesharing regulations and proactively notified the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)." Uber continued to state that they took immediate action and corrected the situation, and "Per Uber safety policies and Colorado state regulations, drivers with access to the Uber app must undergo a nationally accredited third-party background screening. We will continue to work closely with the CPUC to enable access to safe, reliable transportation options for all Coloradans."

The fine represents $156,140 per driver disqualified by Colorado's commission.